Machine for the alternate cambering of a metallic thread

ABSTRACT

The machine is principally constituted by a wheel comprising at its periphery two rows of hammers adapted to overlap one another alternately, each of the hammers of one row being carried by a slide moving transversally on said wheel, means being provided to ensure the alternate pivoting of the hammers, from one row to the other, during the rotation of said wheel in order to provide particularly, by the transversal movement of the slides, the cambering of the thread and the disengagement of said hammers when the thread is cambered, the latter being eventually taken up by a second device composed of two plates arranged facing one another symmetrically with respect to the direction of advance of the thread and each comprising spiral grooves for the reduction of the pitch of the zig zag cambered thread.

United States Patent Liouville 51 June 20, 1972 MACHINE FOR THEALTERNATE CAMBERING OF A METALLIC THREAD Roger Liouville, Colombes,France Herckelbout et Fils (Societe Anonyme), Rosny Sous Bois, FranceFiled: May 1, 1970 Appl. No.: 33,544

Inventor:

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data May 5, 1969 France ..6914281 US. Cl...l40/7l R, 72/187, 72/190, 72/DIG. 10

Int. Cl. ..B21f 1/04 Field oiSearch ..l40/l05,71;72/187, 190,191,72/196, DIG. 16

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1959 Smith ..l40/l05 1,727,8949/1929 Moyer ..72/ l 90 Primary ExaminerLowell A. Larson Attorney-Linton& Linton 57] ABSTRACT The machine is principally constituted by a wheelcomprising at its periphery two rows of hammers adapted to overlap oneanother alternately, each of the hammers of one row being carried by aslide moving transversally on said wheel, means being provided to ensurethe alternate pivoting of the hammers, from one row to the other, duringthe rotation of said wheel in order to provide particularly, by thetransversal movement of the slides, the cambering of the thread and thedisengagement of said hammers when the thread is cambered,

the latter being eventually taken up by a second device composed of twoplates arranged facing one another symmetrically with respect to thedirection of advance of the thread and each comprising spiral groovesfor the reduction of the pitch of the n'g zag cambered thread.

4 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures P'A'TE'N'TEnJunzo 1972 3.670.781

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MACHINE FOR THE ALTERNATE CAMBERING OF A METALLIC THREAD The presentinvention relates to a machine intended to camber a metallic thread in aplane so as to obtain alternate folds comprising rectilinear parts,substantially parallel, in order to later achieve a known binding in theform of a succession of loops whose extremities are introduced into thealigned perforations of the object to be bound, notebook or other, saidloops being then closed to form circular rings.

The purpose of the present machine is to allow, in one or twooperations, the alternate cambering of the thread in one plane.

If the cambering is done in two operations, the first device effects thezig zag cambering, while the second one accentuates it.

The machine for effecting the cambering in one plane in a singleoperation comprising pieces fragile in cambering, the description shallapply to that permitting to effect the cambering in two operations,since it comprises a first cambering device having the samecharacteristics as that allowing to effect the cambering in a singleoperation.

According to one of the essential characteristics of the invention, thefirst device is formed by a wheel comprising at its eriphery two rows ofhammers adapted to alternately overlap one another, leaving between thema space substantially equal to the diameter of the thread to becambered, each of said hammers having edges whose distances separatingthem from one another determine those which must separate the loops ofcambered thread and being articulated on a shaft arranged along the baseedge of the active face of said hammer so as to avoid the lamination ofthe thread, means being provided to ensure the alternate pivoting fromone row to the next of the hammers during the rotation of said wheel inorder to ensure the cambering of the thread and the disengagement ofsaid hammers when the thread is cambered in zig zag, the latter beingtaken up by a second device composed of two plates arranged facing eachother symmetrically with respect to the direction of advance of thethread and each comprising spiral grooves.

In the attached drawings given by way of illustrative example:

FIG. I is a view of elevation of the machine;

FIG. 2 is a plan view ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in elevation, on a larger scale, of the machine limitedto the upper part of the periphery of the wheel;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view in section taken along line V-V of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a partial plan view of the machine limited to the spiralplates;

FIG. 7 is a view in section taken along line VII-VII of FIG.

FIG. 8 shows the form of the thread cambered in zig zag by the firstdevices;

FIG. 9 shows the form of the thread whose cambering has been accentuatedby the second device;

FIG. 10 shows a binding created from the cambered thread shown in FIG.9;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are views similar to FIGS. 3 and 4 of a device allowingto obtain directly a camber such as that represented in FIG. 9.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, it can be seen that the first device isconstituted by a wheel 1 driven in rotation from a motor 2 by means of ashaft 3 with endless thread 4 meshing with a geared wheel 5 keyed on theshaft of said wheel 1, while the second device is constituted by twoplates 6 and 7 driven in rotation in the same direction from, forexample, the motor 2 and by means of shafts 3 and 3' having bevel gears3a and 31;, respectively, fixedly mounted thereon and meshing with bevelgears 3c and 3d, respectively attached to plates 6 and 7, respectively.

Along the periphery of the wheel 1 are aligned two rows of hammers 8 and9 which can pivot around shafts 10 and 11, the hammers 8 having atriangular shape while the hammers 9 have a trapezoidal shape. Ramps 12,13, 14 and I5, fixed and solidary with the frame of the machine, causethe hammers to pivot in the direction of the closing to allow thecamberin g of the thread 16 and in the direction of the opening to freethe cambered thread 16'.

The wheel 1 turns according to the arrow F 1.

The thread 16 is taken up successively from one side and the other bythe hammers 8 and 9 whose axes of rotation are staggered on the wheel bya distance equal to one half their width, that is to say that the shaft10 of a hammer 8 is situated in the middle of the distance separatingthe shafts of the two hammers 9 adjacent to this hammer 8.

The rotation of hammer 8' (FIG. 4) is determined by the ramp 12 againstwhich bears the back 17 of said hammer 8', while that of hammer 9' isdetermined by the ramp 14 against which bears the back 18 of hammer 9'during the rotation of the wheel, the sudden pivoting of a hammer beingprevented until the hammer of the row preceding it has completed itstravel, and vice versa.

In this manner and as shown in FIG. 4, the active face of hammer 8'applies the thread 16 against the face 20 of hammer 9 preceding it,while the active face 21 of hammer 9' applies said thread against theface 22 of said hammer 8, and so forth.

When the hammers overlap one another while reserving between them acertain play for the passage of the thread 16, it is not possible, inprinciple, to cause them to pivot in the direction of opening even whenthe backs 17 and 18 of said hammers come out of the slide formed by thetwo parallel ramps 12 and 14.

In order to remedy this drawback, each of the shafts 10 of the hammers 8is carried by a slide 23 adapted to move transversally in recesses 24 ofthe wheel 1.

The movement of the slides is determined by the ramps 13 and 15 againstwhich their extremities bear.

The ramps 13 and 15 are arranged beneath ramps 12 and 14 and extendbeyond the extremities of the latter (FIG. 4).

Before the pivoting of a hammer 8, the ramp 13 determines thetransversal movement of the corresponding slide 23 so as to place theshaft 10 of said hammer in the same alignment as that of the hammers 8preceding it.

In contrast, at the outlet of ramps 12 and 14, ramp 15 moves the slide23 transversally and in an opposite direction and, in this manner, thehammer 8 in question can pivot freely according to arrow F 2 without itssummit laminating the cambered thread 16', which thus allows thepivoting of hammer 9 following it and, consequently, the successivepivoting of all the hammers of the wheel. Recall springs mounted onshafts 10 and 1 I can push the hammers in rotation in the direction ofopening.

To allow for the escape of the thread pinched between the hammers 8 and9, the ramps 12 and 13 have near their outlet a recess 25 allowing thehammers 8 to be subjected to a slight transversal movement, withoutrotation, controlled by the corresponding slide which moves under theaction of a part 15' of ramp 15 arranged to face recess 25, the camberedthread 16' being then freed and received by a tangential paddle 26 onwhich it can slide to come out of the first cambering device.

In order to avoid any lamination of the thread during cambering, it mustbe observed that the pivoting shafts of the hammers are arranged alongthe base edge 27 of their active face.

The paddle 26 is extended by a table 28 leading, by means of a secondpaddle 29, the zig zag cambered thread 16' to between the forementionedplates 6 and 7 forming the second cambering device allowing to reducethe pitch of the thread folded in zig zag.

The two plates 6 and 7, whose spread is variable, are each constitutedby a right tronconic surface 30, flattened, comprising four grooves 31,32, 33 and 34 regularly staggered angularly and whose sides areconstituted by identical spirals. In this manner the width of thegrooves decreases from the periphery of the plate towards it center(FIG. 7).

The axes of rotation of the plates 6 and 7 are contained in the plane ofthe paddle 29 (FIG. 7).

The extensions of the shafts of the plates are concurrent and formbetween them an angle which is less than the angle of the summit of eachforementioned tronconic surface. The value of this angle can bemodified.

In this manner, the distance separating the bottoms of the grooves ofplates 6 and 7 increases in the direction of advance of the camberedthread, which is essential since the width of the fringe formed by thezig zag cambered thread increases when its pitch is reduced by therotation of said plates turning in the direction of arrow F 3 (FIG. 7).

In order to follow as closely as possible the profile of the plates, thepaddle 29 has a trapezoidal contour.

It is evident that the speed of rotation of the wheel 1 and of theplates 6 and 7 must be synchronized so that both devices perfon'n thesame number of folds.

These two devices have a very dependable operation and the thread cannotescape from the cambering elements for, in the first device, the heightof the hammers is very much greater than the height of the thread, whilein the second, the thread is applied against the paddle 29 and thesummits of the cambers are applied against the bottoms of the grooves.

it is to be noted, also, that by bringing the two plates 6 and 7 closertogether the pitch can be effectively adjusted.

Finally, a thread guide 35 preceded by a straightening system 36 assuresthe presentation of the thread before the hammers of the first device inan invariable plane.

The driving of the thread according to arrow F 1 is provided, in onepart, by the rotation of the wheel 1 determining the closing of thehammers on the thread and, in the other party, by the grooves of plates6 and 7.

At the outlet of the second cambering device the thread is taken up by athird device indicated at 37 and which gives it the configuration shownin FIG. 10.

Since this last device cambers approximately 25 folds at the time andtherefore requires an intermittent advance mechanism timed in oppositionto the two devices object of the present invention, whose operation iscontinuous, a sufficiently large space must be left between plates 6 and7 and the third cambering device so as to leave the waiting foldedthread, a quick advance mechanism allowing to take up this excess whenthe cambering elements of the third device are not longer engaged.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A metallic thread cambering machine comprising in combination awheel, two rows of hammers on the periphery of said wheel adapted toalternately overlap one another and maintaining between them a spacesubstantially equal to the diameter of the thread to be cambered, eachof said hammers having edges whose distance separating them from oneanother determine the distance which must separate the folds of thecambered thread, each of said hammers being articulated on a shaftarranged along the base edge of the active face of same hammers, recallsprings connected to said shafts and said wheel and capable of pushingsaid hammers in rotation in their opening direction, slides connected inrotation to said wheel but mobile transversally, a hammer of one of thetwo mounted on each slide, two fixed ramps to provide for the alternatepivoting of said hammers, two other fixed ramps beneath the firstmentioned ramps to provide the transversal movement of said slides, afirst transversal movement, at the inlet of the first two parallelramps, having the purpose of placing the axis of the correspondinghammer in the alignment of those of the corresponding row, a secondtransversal movement in a direction opposite to the first, of smallextent and without rotation of said hammer, having the purpose oftriggering the freeing of the folded thread, while a third movement inthe same direction as the second and occurring at the outlet of thefirst two ramps allows a corresponding hammer to pivot under the actionof its recall spring, a tangential paddle on which the cambered threadslides preventing said thread from winding around said wheel, andanother device to eventually accentuate the chamber of the thread.

2. A metallic thread cambering machine comprising in combination a firstdevice capable of folding the thread in a zig za and a second devicecapable of accentuating the camber o the thread, said second devicecomprising two tronconic rotary plates, with variable spread, arrangedfacing one another symmetrically with respect to the direction ofadvance of the thread, the variable angle fonned by the extension of theaxes of said plates up to their meeting point being less than the angleat the summit of the truncated cone of each plate, identical spiralgrooves on the tronconic face of each of said plates, said grooves beingregularly staggered angularly and their width being greater towards theperiphery of said plates than towards their center, and a paddle forconveying the zig zag cambered thread, extending radially between saidplates and in a plane formed by the axes of said plates.

3. A metallic thread cambering machine according to claim 1 wherein eachhammer has a face capable of cambering the thread at the inlet of saidfirst two ramps, said ramps having a configuration so that one of thehammers of one of the two rows is able to pivot, in order to camber thethread, only if the previous hammer of the other row has completed itsaction on the thread.

4. A metallic thread cambering machine according to claim 1 in which theheight of the hammers is considerably greater than the diameter of thethread to be cambered.

1. A metallic thread cambering machine comprising in combination a wheel, two rows of hammers on the periphery of said wheel adapted to alternately overlap one another and maintaining between them a space substantially equal to the diameter of the thread to be cambered, each of said hammers having edGes whose distance separating them from one another determine the distance which must separate the folds of the cambered thread, each of said hammers being articulated on a shaft arranged along the base edge of the active face of same hammers, recall springs connected to said shafts and said wheel and capable of pushing said hammers in rotation in their opening direction, slides connected in rotation to said wheel but mobile transversally, a hammer of one of the two mounted on each slide, two fixed ramps to provide for the alternate pivoting of said hammers, two other fixed ramps beneath the first mentioned ramps to provide the transversal movement of said slides, a first transversal movement, at the inlet of the first two parallel ramps, having the purpose of placing the axis of the corresponding hammer in the alignment of those of the corresponding row, a second transversal movement in a direction opposite to the first, of small extent and without rotation of said hammer, having the purpose of triggering the freeing of the folded thread, while a third movement in the same direction as the second and occurring at the outlet of the first two ramps allows a corresponding hammer to pivot under the action of its recall spring, a tangential paddle on which the cambered thread slides preventing said thread from winding around said wheel, and another device to eventually accentuate the chamber of the thread.
 2. A metallic thread cambering machine comprising in combination a first device capable of folding the thread in a zig zag and a second device capable of accentuating the camber of the thread, said second device comprising two tronconic rotary plates, with variable spread, arranged facing one another symmetrically with respect to the direction of advance of the thread, the variable angle formed by the extension of the axes of said plates up to their meeting point being less than the angle at the summit of the truncated cone of each plate, identical spiral grooves on the tronconic face of each of said plates, said grooves being regularly staggered angularly and their width being greater towards the periphery of said plates than towards their center, and a paddle for conveying the zig zag cambered thread, extending radially between said plates and in a plane formed by the axes of said plates.
 3. A metallic thread cambering machine according to claim 1 wherein each hammer has a face capable of cambering the thread at the inlet of said first two ramps, said ramps having a configuration so that one of the hammers of one of the two rows is able to pivot, in order to camber the thread, only if the previous hammer of the other row has completed its action on the thread.
 4. A metallic thread cambering machine according to claim 1 in which the height of the hammers is considerably greater than the diameter of the thread to be cambered. 